My home PC has a setup where you have to log on to Windows as an “Administrator” with a password. It’s an annoyance but worked fine until today.
This morning I had to reset the password since it expires at a set short interval and must be reset to “protect my security” :dubious:.
I reset it and went about my business.
This evening I booted up the computer and lo and behold, it would not accept my password. After trying various combinations and trying to account for things like possible finger transpositions on the keyboard and caps lock, it finally relented and let me in. The first thing I did was try to change the password to what I’d been using all along. It would not let me, apparently since the “old password” I’m putting in (what it was reset to this morning) is incorrect. Whatever I put in this evening cannot be reproduced no matter what I do.
Is there a cheap (preferably free and not disguised malware) software solution to this that I can download to reset the existing Windows password to blank or whatever, so that I can shut down/restart the computer and log back in, with no loss of files.**
Again: I’m logged in now. I would like to be able to shut down and log back in again. Leaving the computer on permanently is not an option.
**online advice forums promote various password reset options, all claiming to be great. Windows Help is no use since they consider what I need to do to be “password cracking” which is a nefarious no-no.
Would it be possible to create another account, make that the admistrator, and then get the password of the other account, via the new admistrator account?
I don’t think so. We’ve previously attempted to get around the “administrator account” garbage with Windows Vista** to avoid having to use a password, without success.
There is no need for a password anyway, since if you broke into our house and somehow avoided being shot or eaten by a hungry wolf (ours is underfed so that it will behave appropriately with intruders), you could steal our identities without ever needing to log on to the computer.
Yes, it is WINDOWS VISTA that we are using.
The “official” solution is Locksmith from Microsoft DaRT. I don’t know how, as an end user, you’d go about getting a legit copy of it, though - it is one of the Microsoft enterprise tools, and isn’t an actual download but a utility you download that uses your Windows media (and other optional items) to create a new bootable DaRT CD.
Do you have a work IT department that might lend you a DaRT disc?
Do you know how to use the Computer Management utility?
Right click the Computer Icon on the desktop. Manage. Click local users groups, then click users.
Rick click any user that you want. There’s an option to set password.
For my home pc, I always click properties on a user account and click “never expires” for password.
You can also create new user accounts here. Don’t forgot to make it a member of the Administrators group (unless you want an account with no powers).
Win 7, the Computer Icon is probably not visible by default. use the search on the start menu. Search for Computer Management.
Then you can run it as usual.
tip, it’s always a good idea on a home pc to have an emergency user account setup as admin.
It Can save you much grief if you forget your normal admin account password. You can reset any user password from the emergency account.
Also sometimes helps with viruses. Some viruses infect the user account profile. Going in under the emergency account may give you a shot at running the anti virus scans before it gets infected too.
I use Windows 7. I disabled the password feature, but now I get a stupid password pop-up screen every time the Windows screen loads and have to click “cancel” in order to continue. Can’t figure out how to stop that from happening.
*I know this doesn’t help the OP, but maybe I can get an answer without starting a new thread?
I was able to blank out the password using the offline NT password and registry editor file (burned to disk, then used to boot the computer). As a bonus I don’t have to use passwords any more.
In Windows 10 you can change your password by going to Settings - Accounts - Sign in Options, which also gives you the option to sign in with a PIN instead of a password.
I was intrigued by this suggestion, so I just went exactly where you said, and it offered:
I don’t get it. What’s the difference between a PIN and a password? And why would I even want a PIN, given that it is inherently less secure because it is digits-only, with no letters or punctuation?
:dubious::eek: